FanMade Blood Plus Encyclopedia
by Aldedron
Summary: Everything there is to know about Blood Plus, war, and the countries visited throughout both the anime, the movie, and the doujinshi. Ch 1-5: Characters; alt spellings; notes; honorifics; homonyms, quotes. Upcoming: Japan
1. Characters

**A/N**  
_EDIT NOTICE: Originally, each of these segments had their own chapter, but I've gathered them all together into one big one to simplify organization-wise_

Hey, y'all ^^ Continuous errors people are making (the same errors by different people, at that, so the confusion's obviously universal) have just finally annoyed me enough to do something about it. So, I'm taking a page out of an "Underworld" fic writer's book; she went through all the effort to make a timeline for the "Underworld" series, so that's what I'm doin' with y'all with _Blood+_

Please read and take this intel into consideration before randomly slapping words onto a page *sigh*. I understand the confusion perfectly, but it's still annoying…

And please forgive me if this whole thing sounds kinda rude. I wrote it _because_ I was annoyed by tiny, technical things, after all  
But this is to help you more than perfectionist me. It took me _over a year_ to solidify what I do know. Lots of brainstorming, watching the entire series over and over, and collaborating the information in all the doujinshi. I wish someone had bother to do this earlier and save me the trouble, but, as they say, if you want something done, you've gotta do it yourself lol ^^

Oh, and 'cause I'm really bad at this… I have not put disclaimers on pretty much _any_ of my stories, but I don't own _Blood+_! I.G. Productions and Aniplex do—you can count Dark Horse Manga for translations ^^ So, this is my universal disclaimer 'cause it's too much work to just put it all on my other fics…

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**Fan-made Blood+ Encyclopedia  
**_The story that's captivated us all…_

**Ages:**

Red Shield-  
Saya Otonashi: appears 16, is actually 170 something  
Haji: about 12 upon arrival to Zoo, appears 21 or 22 throughout rest of anime, is actually 140 something  
David: mid-thirties  
Julia Silverstein: early thirties  
Aston Collins: you got me *helpless shrug*  
Lewis: I haven't the slightest clue…  
Joel Goldschmidt VI: mid-twenties  
Clara: 30s  
Spencer: 30s  
Rogers: 30s  
McCoy: 30s  
Elizaveta: early to mid thirties

Family-  
Joel Goldschmidt I: 70s-80s  
George Miyagusuku: 50s  
Kai Miyagusuku: 17  
Riku Miyagusuku: 13-14

Schiff-  
Moses: _I'm not bothering to even _guess_ any Schiff ages -_- Do as you will, but be realistic_  
Karman: …  
Irene: …  
Lulu: …  
Ghee: …  
Dismas: …  
Gestas: …  
Darth: …  
Gudrif: …  
Jan: …

Bystanders-  
Kaori Kinjou: 16  
Inamine-sensei: I just don't care…  
Sorimachi: 17  
Katou: 17  
Kakimoto: 17  
Reimi: 20s  
Mao Jahana: 16  
Ms. Lee: I just don't care…  
Min: 16  
Annemarie: 16  
Mui: 14  
Akahiro Okamura: 20s  
Professor Hirohisa Sukagawa: another I don't care  
Editor Takeda: _again_, I don't care  
Gray: 50s  
Monique: early twenties  
Javier: 5  
Nahabi: 6 or 7

Human-Chiropteran-  
Simon "Cry Baby" Forrest: 20s  
Andrei: he's a Chiropteran, how can I tell -_-

Diva & Chevalier-  
Diva: appears 16, is actually 170 something  
Amshel Goldsmith: appears late thirties to early forties, is actually 200 something  
Solomon Goldsmith: appears mid twenties, actually around 120  
Grigori Rasputin: too many factors to estimate an age…  
Sonya: appears fourteen or fifteen, actual age unknown  
Karl Fei-Ong: appears late teens to early twenties, actually around 120  
Martin Bormann: entirely unknown._ *dead serious* If anyone actually makes a fic about this guy, I commend you  
_James Ironside: appears early twenties, actual age probably around 70s  
Nathan Mahler: _truthfully, I simply don't wanna guess. Fill this space here with whatever your heart desires lol ^^_

Cinq Fleches-  
Van Argeno: early thirties  
Ted A. Adams: he's old, okay?  
Phillip Rosenberg: also old

CIA-  
Archer: 20s

American Government-  
Secretary of Defense Grant: …  
Politician Bread: …

_Did I miss anyone? If so, please tell me so I can add them_

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**Character Heights and Japanese Names:**

Heights-  
Nathan: 5'9''  
James: 5'7''  
Karl: 5'7''  
Solomon: 5'7''  
Amshel: 6'4''  
Diva: 5'2''  
Archer: 5'6''  
Riku: 4'9''  
Van: 6'2''  
Haji: 6'3''  
Kai: 5'6''  
Saya: 5'2''  
Mao: 5'3''  
Okamura: 5'6''  
Collins: 4'11''  
David: 6'2''  
Joel: 5'9''  
Julia: 5'6''  
Lewis: 5'9''

Japanese Names-  
Mahler Nathan: マーラー・ネイサン  
Ironside James: アイアンサイド・ジェームズ  
Fei-Ong Karl: 飛-オング・カール  
Goldsmith Solomon: ゴールドスミス・ソロモン  
Goldsmith Amshel: ゴールドスミス・アンシェル  
Diva: ディーヴァ  
Archer: not given  
Miyagusuku Riku: 宮城リク  
Van: ヴァン  
Haji: ハジ  
Miyagusuku Kai: 宮城カイ  
Otonashi Saya: 音無小夜  
Mao: not given  
Okamura: not given  
Collins: コリンズ  
David: デヴィット  
Goldschmidt Joel: ゴルトシュミット・ジョエル  
Silverstein Julia: シルヴースタイン・ジューリアー  
Lewis: ルーイス

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**Alternate Spellings:**

Saya Otonashi. There are no alternative spellings for either Saya's first or surname  
Goldschmidt and Goldsmith. Please, remember, people. Goldsmith is a _branch_ of Goldschmidt. They are not the same thing. Both Solomon and Amshel go by Goldsmith; Joel and his descendents go by Goldschmidt. And, also, please stop misspelling Goldschmidt. It's right here, so paste it in your Word and add it to the dictionary if you have to  
Haji or Hagi. Haji is the correct Romaji, however, technically, Hagi is correct, as well—according to Dark Horse Manga, anyways, and the early subbing of the anime  
Miyagusuku. There are no variances here. Copy this, paste it in your word, and add it to the dictionary so you can stop misspelling it, please  
Lewis. Louis is pronounced loo-ee. Watch the show and _do they pronounce it like that_? No, they pronounce it loo-ihs  
Karl or Carl. Carl's correct for English, Karl for Japanese 'cause Japanese Romaji doesn't use the letter c. Either one's technically, correct, though. And, his last name's Fei-Ong—just a reminder  
Solomon. This has been spelled Soloman in several fics. Incorrect. It's an o  
Amshel or Anshel. Both are correct. Go either way you wish  
Van Argeno or Argiano. Both are correct, do as you will  
Min. Also something you might want to consider. Min is not pronounced as this Romaji implies. I actually spoke with someone whose first language is Vietnamese and they say it's pronounced mihn, instead. Japanese phonetics cannot produce the ih sound, which is why they pronounced it as such, but you can insert an h in there if you wanna get technical on the pronunciation  
Annemarie or Annamarie. Truthfully, I'm not sure which spelling is the correct one. I personally believe it's supposed to be spelled Annemarie, but you can write it with an A if you want  
Irene / Aurélien. In the anime, we all know this tragic Schiff as Irene. In the doujinshi novels, she's known as Aurélien. Both are correct, however, more people know her as Irene, so if you dare use this second name it'd probably be best to inform your readers of this fact beforehand, lest you be hounded with confused reviewers' grievances lol ^^  
Karman / Carmen. Carmen in the English translation. As for the Japanese, it's pronounced カルマン (ka-ru-ma-n), not カルメン (ka-ru-me-n), so please stop writing his Romaji name Karmen

Nankurunaisa. Same thing as Miyagusuku  
Omoro. This has also been written a variety of ways but, _people_, in the show, it's not even written in Japanese. It's actually _written out_ in Romaji above the _door  
_Chevalier. Okay, I'm only gonna say this _once—_there are no alternate spellings for this! Chevalier is French for two things: "French nobleman" or "knight". The English translation'd be "cavalier"  
Cinq Fleches (Fléches). I just _don't care_ enough to use the accent marks, but who really does? Either way, please spell the letters correctly. May seem like an odd spelling, especially with that q, but it's a French word, not an English one. Oh, and, I noticed while rereading _Chevalier_ today that the Dark Horse translators spell it without that s at the end, as Cinq Fléche; same with the school name  
Lycee du Cinq Fleches (Fléches). A helpful reviewer who actually knows some French has informed me that the missing s is incorrect French-wise, although you could go with the doujinshi spelling if you _wanted to_  
Sif or Schiff. Both are correct  
Kilbed of Kirbet. Both're correct, as well  
Corpse Corps. No alternate spellings

Shite iru? Diva's twins actually have names O.o! _Official_ names! Hibiki and Kanade. No, don't even bother checking (yes, I'm one of those idiots who _did_) 'cause they're _not_ mentioned in the anime. No, they're supplied by Ryo Ikehata in his 4th _Blood_+ doujinshi novel, _Nankurunaisa_. Kanade has red eyes, Hibiki blue. Personally, I feel it should go the other way around (I don't know why, just feels right), and I get them mixed up all the time 'cause I've only bothered reading _Nankurunaisa_ twice and even then, the second time was just a skim… But, you can use Hibiki and Kanade's names or make up your own for Diva's children. I just thought it was interesting they even _had_ their names revealed O.o…  
As for their names. On my new Japanese name site (which has well over one hundred names, unlike my last one), Hibiki was listed, but it was a boy name. 響 - Hibiki - Sound, Echo. Kanade was not listed. I'd love to add more name sites to my list, so as to be able to better research such things, so if anyone knows of a site containing either children's names, I'd love be eternaly grateful for the URL ^^

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**A/N**  
So, hope this was helpful. If y'all got any questions on other alternate spellings or anything like that, go ahead and ask

Might as well give y'all a preview as to what's to come (other than the Timeline): Nitpicky Notes, Anime Songs / Translations, Japan, Basic Japanese, Basic Chinese, Diva's Twins / Twinship, Chevalier, Schiff, Joel I and Early Saya, Episode Name List, _Blood+_ Resources, Random Theories  
Note that this's not the order it'll be posted, just the order I could think of them off the top of my head lol

Thoughts? Comments? Confusion? Ask any questions, suggest anything! There's so much to fill this encyclopedia of mine with—I'm totally open to any information y'can dredge up ^^ Also, if you find _any_ errors _anywhere_, don't be afraid of flaming and just say it so I can fix 'em


	2. Nitpicky Notes

**A/N  
**It's always the little details that get to me, thus this chapter. It's not very organized...

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**FanMade Blood+ Encyclopedia**  
_The story that's captivated us all..._

**Nitpicky Notes: **  
George, Kai, and Riku's surnames are Miyagusuku; Saya's the only one whose surname is Otonashi  
Red hair is considered to signify defiance, and only delinquents have red hair. Therefore, Kai is seen as a delinquent from square one  
The first episodes in the anime takes place in Koza, previously known as Okinawa City before neighboring villages banded together and renamed themselves Koza  
The American Air Force base in Okinawa is Yokota Air Force Base. I couldn't make any sense of the translation, but Yokota's two kanji mean "horizontal or sideways" and "rice field or rice paddy" *scratches head in confusion*… It was prob'ly named after someone, which would mean I have the wrong kanji and no wonder my translation makes absolutely no sense lol  
Forrest and Reimi were once going to go to America and get married, but it just never happened  
Saya attends Koza Commercial High School  
_Big _issues with Saya's name's translation… The kanji spelling Saya's name are normally pronounced "sayo", not "saya", so her name doesn't mean "scabbard"; it actually means "evening". Her surname means "soundless". In other words, her full name means something along the lines of "Silent Night" lol ^^  
Okamura is a reporter for the _Ryuukyuu Daily_ newspaper, Okinawa being a part of the Ryuukyuu Islands  
Vietnamese is actually written using Roman letters, accompanied by an insane number of accent marks  
Vietnam's second language is French, so Lycee du Cinq Fleches requires its students to take French (Saya had it easy!)  
Lycee du Cinq Fleches is an all-girls' school with an _ao dai_ uniform in which the times are marked with the ringing of an old church bell  
Min's name is pronounced "mihn". In Vietnamese, it would written Minh, and it means "Wisdom" or "Insight". This information is courtesy of AMGerm Rocks  
The numbers on the side of Diva's container are 721226, or "nana-ni-ichi-ni-ni-roku"  
During WWI, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd, so as to sound less German; following the Russian Revolution, it was renamed Leningrad for a short period, obviously, in honor of Vladimir Lenin, before eventually returning to the name St. Petersburg  
Gray was previously David's mentor  
It was Mao and Okamura's LA apartment that blew up  
Red Shield's NY base was in a shabby section of Little Italy

_Got any questions on nitpicky details that weren't covered in this brief list, go right ahead, ask and I'll add it right quick ^^_

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**A/N**  
Excuses are pretty useless at this point... I shall give you one, anyways!  
I _did_ finish the Timeline on time, thank you very much. August 30th, to be exact. But authorwithissues, my sister, _didn't_ finish editing it. I sent it to her, she edited it, she didn't save it, her computer restarted, and she dropped the project. And that is why I am now editing it myself! Until I _finish_ editing it, I'm going to post some of the other stuff I have, but I do hope to finish soon...

As for this little segment, "Nitpicky Notes". These're just random tidbits of information I find interesting. If anyone has noticed an error I made or someone else made which annoys them, send it to me! I'll be happy to add it to the list ^^ And I'd love random facts about the places they visit, too, along with cultural aspects. Always interesting

Thoughts? Comments? Confusion? Send me a review or PM! I have no life! Oh, and sorry about the _huge_ delay on absolutely everything ^^'


	3. Honorifics

**A/N**  
I _was_ going to post a chapter about Japan, but my computer is dead. The port where you plug in the power cord is broken, so it simply ran out of power and died. I'm on another computer, but have no access to the Terabyte where I managed to save most of my writing before the power ran out. Which means I have no access to my writing. Therefore, I decided to just re-research a lot of this stuff and give y'all a brief key about Japanese titles and suffixes (AKA honorifics). A forewarning—I'm having formatting issues galore. This is not a Windows computer, and I don't know how to use Firefox very well... Also, the mouse is out to get me. (Clicking things on the complete opposite side of the screen! Gah—! I hate this thing!)

12/16/11 EDIT: I've researched "captain" (taichou) and "aniki" ("big bro") and added them to the list ^^ As well as an update on my computer problem, not that I expect anyone to care...I just felt like ranting  
12/27/11 EDIT: An actual explanation for hyphens, "o-", and "-san" has been added to the end  
2/25/12 EDIT: More ways to say I have been added. Some of them are obsolete, but I added them for fun ^^

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**Fan-made Blood+ Encyclopedia  
**_The story that's captivated us all…_

Suffixes are extremely important in the Japanese language. Addressing anyone by name is almost always considered too intimate and frowned upon, considered offensive. The only people you would not address with a suffix are younger siblings, other people who are "under" you (such as superior to employee), and your closest of close friends. Otherwise, it's downright rude. I am only going to give a brief overview on suffixes. If you want to go more in depth as to why you address so-and-so with sama or sensei or whatever, I suggest you check out the following site: _senseis. xmp. net /? JapaneseNameSuffix_

**Generic Suffixes**

-San—The most generic suffix in the Japanese language, you would use this to address just about anyone. It can be translated as "Mr. / Ms. / Mrs" (remember Mr. David?). In more formal situations, one uses the other person's surname: "Saa, Yamada-san wa nani wo shimasu ka." Informally (but still with a suffix), you would then use their first name, to signify that you have a closer relationship, but still distant:: "Saa, Tsukiko-san wa nani wo suru ka."  
-Kun—This is only for guys, and is used from seniors to juniors, parents to sons, or throughout high school in general by everyone. Never ever used on girls  
-Chan—This is used on boys only when they are young children (as in younger than ten). This suffix can be used on girls throughout their life (until they get old and grandmotherly lol), and is used as a term of endearment from teacher to protégé, boyfriend to girlfriend, parent to daughter, friend to friend, sexist man to waitress or other junior women, or the general senior to junior. In D. Gray-Man, you might have noticed how Komui keeps calling Bak Chan Bak-chan—meaning that it can also be used as an insult towards men. -Tan is the baby talk version and therefore cute  
O-sama or -sama—This is used on someone who is "higher" than you. Anyone older than you could be a -sama, anyone higher up in class or profession as well. Doctors and teachers could be called this (although they prefer -sensei). Also, customers to just about any sort of business are referred to as -sama or O-sama, as an extremely polite form of address. O-sama less common and only used in extremely formal situations wherein one might not know the other person's name. -Chama or -tama are the baby talk version and therefore cute. Ah, one more point, -sama is usually added to the end of gods and Buddhas, thus Kami-sama being very common (kami = god / hair / paper)  
Kouhai or -kouhai—Used on underclassmen. Junior to freshman, senior to junior and so-forth  
Sempai or -sempai—This can also be written senpai, just so you know. This is used for upperclassmen, particularly in high school and college. It can also be used in a sports setting, junior members to seniors and so-forth. It's someone above you, similar to -sama, but a bit less formal, more education-centric  
Sensei or -sensei—Another elevated suffix, the person you would use this on is above you, but in schooling rather than general social rank. It is used on teachers and doctors, or someone you want to teach you something in general

**Other Suffixes and Titles  
**

-Bou—This is generally used for babies or young boys, occasionally young girls  
O-jo-san—This is how young women used to be addressed. This has since been replaced with -san, but older men and women will still use it, particularly for older women (twenty and up, is my guess)  
O-ne-chan—Similar to O-neechan, this is an informal version of o-jo-san, and could basically be translated as "girl". When it is used, it is generally in terms of young girls (under ten)  
Mama—Used to address female barkeepers. If this is a pattern, I'd guess male barkeepers are called Papa, but I'll have to research that  
Kachou or -kachou—This means boss, and you would use it to address your immediate superior in a work environment  
Taichou or -taichou—Captain (I finally looked it up!)  
Buchou or -buchou—Department chief, so says Wikipedia. Might have -san attached, following the same rules as with family: within company, about another company, but never about your company when speaking with another  
Shachou—Company president, again Wiki. Same -san deal as with Buchou  
Shishou or -shishou—Master. From apprentice to master. The master can address the apprentice however the hell he wants  
O-dono or -dono or -tono—This is a now-obsolete suffix (more like a title). It is used on lords and ladies and so-forth and is extremely formal. I do not recommend using in present-day Japan unless you're trying to make a joke or something. Anything based more than fifty years ago, though, is good  
O-jousama—Young mistress. They use this in _Jigoku Shoujo_ a lot  
-Iemoto—Very rarely used, this is another form of sensei used for someone who is a master of the "classic" arts, such as calligraphy or tea  
No Kimi—Added on to a name (Honda no Kimi), this is an archaic reference to the Heian period, wherein it was used to refer to Lords and Ladies. These days, it's either a joke or used in written correspondence between lovers  
Shi or -shi—This is almost exclusive to formal writing (although I do know of one singer named Panda-shi), and is used in terms of someone the writer has generally never met, such as addressing a long-dead author or something along those lines  
-Senshu—This is used for athletes. So...Ichiro would be Ichirou-senshu  
Yougisha—A suspect in a crime! Originally neutral, now derogatory, as around 99% of tried suspects get sentenced  
Hikoku—A defendant. Same deal with the neutrality / derogatory...ness  
Jukeisha—A convict  
_If anyone has any other work suffixes like Kachou, I'd love to hear them ^^ Also, I'd love it if anyone would be awesome enough to help me find out what "young master" is_

**Family Titles**

_This section is a bit more complicated, so bear with me_

In Japanese society, there are titles for one's own parents, another's, and personal address, as well as strangers being addressed in family terms, such as older sister or brother. I'll classify them to the best of my abilities

_Personal Family in Conversation with Another_  
Sofu—My grandfather  
Sobo—My grandmother  
Chichi—My father  
Haha—My mother  
Ani—My older brother  
Ane—My older sister  
Otouto—My younger brother  
Imouto—My younger sister  
_When speaking to someone outside the family, you have to lower yourself, so honorific suffixes are never used in this list. These are total addresses, and would not include the person's name_

_Another's Personal Family in Conversation_  
O-jiisan—Your grandfather  
O-baasan—Your grandmother  
O-tousan—Your father  
O-kaasan—Your mother  
O-niisan—Your older brother  
O-neesan—Your older sister  
Otouto-san—Your younger brother  
Imouto-san—Your younger sister  
_When speaking about someone else's family, you must honor with by using the honorifics you neglected on your own family. You notice I only used -san in this list. You can get more or less formal by using -chan or -sama, depending on how close you are with the person you're speaking with—how formal your conversation is. I do not know of any situation where you would be close enough with another person's parents to drop either the prefix or the suffix honorifics  
_

_Personal Family_  
O-jiisan—Grandfather  
O-baasan—Grandmother  
O-tousan—Father  
Chichi-ue—Father. This is _extremely_ formal and rarely used. -Ue means "above", so you're elevating your parent, so if I had to translate this, I would say "My father who is above me." Yeah, really formal and impersonal. Distant, like you're speaking with a stranger. I heard a rumor Itachi (Naruto) addresses Fugaku and Mikoto as such...I'll have to check up on that  
Papa—Daddy. Affectionate, used mostly by younger children, occasionally as adults to, again, show affection  
O-kaasan—Mother  
Haha-ue—Mother. Same as Chichi-ue  
Mama—Mommy. Same as Papa  
O-niisan or -o-nissan—Older brother  
Aniki—(Slang) Older brother. This is very casual and used only amongst close siblings or (in the case of gangsters) casual friends  
O-neesan or -o-neesan—Older sister  
Otouto or -otouto—Younger brother  
Imouto or -imouto—Younger sister  
_When in your own family, levels of formality fluctuate, depending entirely on the family_. _When a person is particularly close, they might drop the o- altogether, sometimes even the suffix, instead addressing them as, say, Youko-nee. This is rare, though.__ Parents will often address their own children with -chan or -kun, or even address the eldest siblings as O-niisan and O-neesan to their faces, as well as in conversation with each other and to the younger siblings. It's not uncommon to name the eldest son "First Son"_ _and so-forth_

_Other Family_  
O-jisan—Uncle  
O-basan—Aunt

_Outside the Family_  
O-jiisan—Old man. Used to address old men in general. It's pretty polite, as the elderly are revered, and as a result is extremely common. In Zombie-Loan, it was used as an insult towards a younger man whose name just so happened to be Ojii  
O-baasan—Old lady. Same as O-jiisan  
O-jisan—Used to address men older by about one generation. Still means Uncle  
O-basan—A more uncommon address for older women, as aunts are generally considered bossy and annoying. Only occasionally used outside the family, and can be taken as an insult by strangers  
O-niisan—Older brother. Used by younger children to address older boys, up into their teens  
O-neesan—Older sister. Same as O-niisan

Overall, the Japanese honorific system is extremely complicated and arbitrary, but it's incredibly important to them and native Japanese are expected to simply _know_ it. The younger generation is more laid back about things and a simple -san, -kun, or -chan will suffice (whereas the older generations are sticklers for the rules). Those're your safety, and going outside that little zone can get dangerous. If you are not a native Japanese and can speak absolutely any Japanese, they'll think you're amazing for even trying, and they will humor you if you misuse some of the higher suffixes, but still, the subject of honorifics can definitely get rocky and even my research may not help me once I'm actually there

**Self Address**

_Ah, what the hell, I might as well include the various ways in which a person can say "I" in Japanese..._

Watashi—Generic, used by boys and girls, men and women. Is considered a bit feminine, though  
Watakushi—Means the same thing, although this reading is less common  
Atashi—An incredibly feminine "I", this's only used by women who want to emphasize how feminine they are. Or high-class  
Atai—Same as Atashi  
Warawa—Strictly female, this is an extremely humble way for a woman to address herself, and the _kanji_ used to write it means "concubine"  
Wacchi—A working-man's "I"  
Boku—Used in general by boys, young men, and tomboys trying to sound tough  
Ore—Only for men with an ego. In FFVII, Zack used it, since he was a hotshot. Here in Blood+, Kai uses it, too ^^  
Shousei—Also masculine, this means "my humble self", ego, and I  
Shoushoku—"A humble (government) servant," this also means "I" and the government involvement convinces me that this's also primarily used by men  
Washi—"I" as used by the elderly (so says my translation site; I'm not entirely sure what that entails)  
Gusei—"I." The first _kanji_ making up this word means "foolish, folly, absurdity, stupid"; the second means "life, genuine, birth." The person saying this is basically implying that they are too lowly to have been born; very, very humble, in other words  
Sessha—An obsolete "I". It translates as "Clumsy/bungling/unskillful Person". Extremely humble, but no longer in use today  
Soregashi—Another obsolete. It's a vague reference to a person, the _kanji_ translating to something so obscure as "that person". Sounds detached to me

_And I finally pulled through, upon the return of my computer, and added everything saved on there, plus I did some extra research_. _And remember, while Bak Chan may be able to address himself as Ore-sama, you are not allowed to do that; only other people get honorifics, never yourself_

**Other Terms of Address**

"Anata" means "you". While one may use this when asking someone's name, it is generally considered extremely rude to address anyone as "you". Unless you're married, in which case spouses call one another "anata" as a form of endearment and intimacy, often translated as "Dear". Other forms of "you" could include "omae" (of which is a tad rude), "kisama" or "teme" (which can translate as "bastard", meaning this's _extremely_ rude), and so-forth. If anyone else can think of other forms of "you", I'd love to add them to the list ^^ Usually, however, one uses an honorific or a person's name with an attached honorific

**Further Explanation**

_I feel the need to clarify a few things..._

Hyphens. When adding an honorific to a name, use a hyphen. It's not a part of the name, it's an addition. Also, you don't capitalize suffix honorifics; it's not a term of total address—it's a suffix. A lot of the errors I've seen revolve around capitalizing suffixes: ex "Tsukiko-San". It's unnecessary. Just write it "Tsukiko-san"  
Another things involving hyphens would be the addition of extra honorifics to a suffix. Particularly "o-" and "-san". In my list for terms of familial address, I put a hyphen after "o-". It was unnecessary, honestly, but I was trying to separate the "o-" from the rest of the word for a reason. "O-" is a prefix honorific added to the beginning of words, other honorifics in this case. It's optional—you don't _need_ it. It just makes the word more formal. Meaning "Okaasan" is a whole lot more formal than "Kaasan". Were I to do a comparative translation, Okaasan would be Mother and Kaasan would be Mom. There's also the matter of "-san". I did not separate that because it's not optional (most of the time), but note that it can also be manipulated, as I believe I've mentioned previously. "-San" is pretty generic, and another way to vary the level of politeness is to alternate between suffixes, even on things that're already suffixes. An example of formal progression: "Niichan" to "Niisan" to "Oniisan" to "Oniisama". Another mistake I see all too often is putting a hyphen between "nii" and "-san", writing thinks like "Honda-nii-san". Please don't do that, it's unnecessary. Just write it "Honda-niisan" or "Oniisama" or something

_Did I get everything? If I didn't, please say so, and I'll add it ^^_

* * *

**A/N**  
If you have any questions about honorifics, please feel free to ask, and if any of my explanations were confusing, please tell me so I can clarify them. This is a rather difficult subject, as honorifics are rather subjective, but I'll do my best to answer all your questions and research anything I can't ^^ In case you're wondering, this page took near ten hours of research total (spread over _months_, mind you), so, yeah, it was a lot of work, but it's something I am totally willing to work on further

As for the timeline... It's finished. I've already said that. And my sister never finished editing it. But, at this point, that's kind of pointless. While writing it, I got really caught up in the details (as I am wont to do), and it ended up, like, twenty-five thousand words long. That's _way_ too long. I really need to go back and at least cut it in half, as well as finish setting up a navigation system (of which I _have_ already started) and so-forth. If I remember, I'll do that when I get my laptop back, 7-10 days and $250 from now *headdesk*. Wait, swipe that, the fixer people called and they suck at their jobs, so adjust that to 15-20 days. Swipe that again. I got my laptop back and they _broke_ two other things in the process of fixing the _one_ thing, so I have to ship it back and wait another seven days -_- Up the count to at least 24 days. Nerds of Call consists of assholes who don't do their job—don't use them, I beg of you. I better get a refund... I didn't pay that much money for this shitty service

Thoughts? Comments? Confusion? Please, feel free to ask, or even contribute!


	4. Basic English: Homonyms

**A/N  
**Okay, this is just a huge pet peeve of mine, and it drives me crazy that people mess this up so much... So I'm posting a brief key on homonyms! If you have any other homonym questions, ask away, I'll add them. And, please, don't be embarassed, even I've made some of these mistakes...and hit myself over the head for it...  
They aren't arranged in any particular order, by the way  
I finally have my laptop back, and am fixing the formatting issues

EDIT 1/16/2012: I added another section to this chapter, **Basic Solutions**

* * *

**Fan-made Blood+ Encyclopedia  
**_The story that's captivated us all…_

**Actual Homonyms:**

_Fiancé vs Fiancée_  
This is very easy. Fiancé is the guy, fiancée is the girl. I like to think the extra e makes fiancée more feminine-looking

_There vs Their vs They're_  
There is directional: "She lives over there." Their is possessive: "It's their car." They're is a contraction for "they are": "They're going to Japan." I can't think of any other way to explain than to memorize these differences

_You're vs Your_  
You're is a contraction for "you are": "You're going to Japan?" Your is possessive: "Is this your bag?" Just check if removing the contraction makes sense. For example, "Is this you're bag?" Break apart the contraction: "Is this you are bag?" Does that make sense? No. Therefore, it _must_ be "Is this your bag?"

_Its vs It's_  
Its is possessive: "That's its home." (If anyone can think of a better example sentence, I'm all for it...) It's is a contraction for "it is": "It's over there." Use the same trick with the contraction to figure out which to use. "That's it's home" = "That is it is home." Does that make sense? No. "That is its home" makes sense. Just break apart the contractions and you can always tell

_Aisle vs isle_  
Aisle is like in the grocery store, each aisle has different foodstuffs and so-on: "Go to aisle number four for baby powder." An isle, meanwhile, is an island: "The British Isles." My trick for this is to note that "isle" looks awful similar to "island"

_Would vs Wood_  
Honestly, if you're making this mistake, you're sad. Wood is a material: "I bought a wood table." Would is...not a material... I don't know how to explain that one. Ex: "She would have jumped!"

_Two vs Too vs To_  
Two is a number: "There are two books." Too is extra or another word for "also": "There's too much cargo to load" or "I'm going, too!" To is directional: "I'm going to the store"

_Bear vs Bare_  
This one can be a bit confusing. Bear can be an animal, or to hold something: "Omigod, it's a bear!" or "No one man can bear the world on his shoulders." Bare is to be naked or reveal something: "With his bare hands, he reached into the flames" or "We saw the beast bare its teeth." The past tense for "bear" is "bore", meaning you can "bear a child" ("bore a son" is a common phrase). Meanwhile, the past tense of "bare" is "bared"

_Shone vs Shown_  
Shown is the past tense of "show": "We were shown a movie on the bombing of Hiroshima." Shone is the past tense of "shine": "The moon shone silver." "Show" also has "showed" for a past tense: "They showed us a movie on the bombing of Hiroshima." "Shine" for "shined": "They shined a bright light in my eyes." It all depends on the context, any native English-speaker should figure it out just by saying it aloud

_Aloud vs Allowed_  
Aloud is "out loud": "Did I say that aloud?" Allowed is the past tense of "allow": "I wasn't allowed to associate with druggies." Context clues should be all you need

_Where vs Wear vs Ware_  
Where is positional: "Where do we go?" Wear is a verb for wearing clothing and accessories: "I wear sweaters." Ware is an item: "Hardware store" or "What is this store's wares?" Weary and wear are two separate things not even pronounced the same. Also, you can "wear someone out", as well as "wear a shirt"

_Woe vs Whoa_  
Woe is despair: "Woe is me!" Whoa is an exclamation...or was it an interjection? Whatever. "Whoa! it's Morgan Freeman!" "Woah" is a misspelling of "whoa"

_Damnit vs Damn it vs Dammit_  
All three are correct. It's not a debate. Damnit is just "damn it" slurred together into one word. Dammit is further slurring

_Aw vs Awe vs Ah_  
I've actually been misusing this one! Aw is something you say in protest: "Aw, do I really have to go to bed?" Awe is shock: "We stood frozen in awe." Ah is an interjection: "Ah! You scared me!"

_Exercise vs Exorcise_  
Exercise is working out: "Let's go for a run; I need some exercise." Exorcise is removing something evil: "We need to exorcise the demon!"

_Cuz vs 'Cause vs Cause vs Caws_  
Cuz is not a word. 'Cause is a contraction of "because": "I want to go 'cause it's fun." Cause, meanwhile, is the source of an event: "Cause and effect." Caws is the sound a crow makes: "The caws were deafening!"

_Effect vs Affect_  
Effect is a noun: "Cause and effect" or "What're the effects of this?" Affect is a verb: "How will this affect me?" You're just gonna have to learn how to differentiate verbs and nouns on this one

_Pole vs Poll_ _vs Pull_  
A pole is either, well, a pole, like in a strip club or whatever, or a Pole, as in someone from Poland: "Climbin' up and down them poles..." or "My ancestor was a Pole." A poll is something people vote in: "The last ballot is in and the polls have closed, and our new president is Barack Obama." Pull is a verb: "In tug o' war, each team tries to pull the other into a mud pit!"

_Are vs Our__ vs Hour_  
Are the plural form of "is"... well, it's usually plural: "We are patriots, dammit!" or "Where are you?" Our is plural possessive: "That's our sandbox, you big meanie!" Hour is a unit of time: "You have one hour"

_Till vs 'Til__  
_This is my own personal hell... Till is a verb, as in "tilling the fields." 'Til is a contraction for "until." _Technically_, till is correct, but I really don't understand why... I use 'til out of principle

_Principle vs Principal_  
Principle is a rule of belief: "I won't compromise my principles." Principal is, like, the principal of the school: "Principal Mason is giving a speech to the graduating class." My trick for this is to take note of the "pal" at the end of principal, as if to denote a person

_En Masse vs In Mass_  
En masse is French, and it is the correct usage. In mass is just incorrect

_Per Se vs Per Say_  
Per se is Latin and the correct usage. Per say is incorrect

_Hers vs Her's_  
Similar to "its" and "it's". Hers is possessive: "That's hers." Her's is a contraction that makes absolutely no sense: "her is"

_Air vs Heir_  
Air is the atmosphere we breathe: "Superman soared through the air." An heir is someone who will inherit something: "Itachi was heir to the Uchiha clan"

_Sight vs Site_  
Sight is visual: "It was a sight to be seen" or "I've regained my sight!" Site is a location: "What site were you on—deviantART or Photobucket?" or "We'll be filming on site"

_Scene vs Seen_  
A scene is a place where an incident occurs: "The scene of the crime." Seen is the past tense of "see": "Have you seen Tanaka-san lately?"

_See vs Sea_  
See is sight: "Let's go see a movie." A sea is a body of water: "The Baltic Sea"

_Horse vs Hoarse_  
A horse is an animal: "Each horse stood proud on the racetrack." Hoarse is a rough-sounding voice: "She gave a hoarse laugh, throat sore from her earlier tears"

_Sore vs_ Soar  
Sore is an ache: "Honda-kun's legs were sore after his run." Soar is, like, flying: "The children watched each kite soar through the air"

_Course vs Coarse  
_Course is a route or movement, or an expression: "Of course you're coming with!" or "Our course of action is..." Coarse is something rough: "His coarse accent grated on the nobleman's nerves" or "She ran a hand through the animal's coarse fur"

_Whether vs Weather  
_Whether is an expression of doubt or an inquiry: "She didn't know whether or not to..." or "I don't know whether he wants to or not." Weather is, well, the weather, like rain: "We'll weather this storm" or "The weather looks stormy, today"

_Eave and Eve_  
An eave is an overhang, such as the edge of a roof: "They settled beneath the eave to escape the rain." Eve is the period directly proceeding something, or an archaic way to say "evening", similar to "morn" for "morning": "'Twas Christmas Eve- *cough, cough* Mean, 'twas the night before Christmas..."

_Boar vs Bore vs Board_  
A boar is a wild pig. By "bore", I meaning "boring: "You're such a bore!" The past tense of "bore" is "bored": "I'm bored." Board is a plank or committee, or to get on / in to: "Get out the game board!" or "The board of directors" or "We are now boarding all passengers". In the case of boarding, this can include just things as "boarding school". The past tense of this form of board is "boarded": "We boarded the plane"

_Threw vs Through_  
Threw is the past tense form of the verb throw: "The boy threw the ball." Through is a preposition, or an adjective describing the same purpose the preposition fulfills, denoting movement from one side to the other: "They ran through the tunnel" or "We went through hell, yesterday" or "...a through train from Boston" (that sentence is from Google). Thru is a shortened form of "through": "Drive-thru"

_Flee vs Flea_  
Flee is a verb for running away: "Oda Nobunaga chuckled as he watched his enemies flee." (Psst, Nobunaga was a famous Japanese warlord.) Flea is an insect, or a flea market: "If Europeans knew of the horrors of the flea, the Black Death might not've been so bad"

_Steel vs Steal_  
Steel is metal: "She steeled herself for the confrontation to come" or "The man had nerves of steel." Steal is thievery: "I'll steal your heart!"

_Dye vs Die_  
Dye is what you use to change the color of something: "We're gonna buy some green food dye for the cake." Die is either the singular form of dice, or the verb for death: "Throw the die, already!" or "We're going to die." The -ing form of dye is dyeing, and the -ing form of die is dying. It's not interchangeable -_- Dyed is the past tense of dye, died of die

_A lot vs Allot_ _vs Alot_  
A lot is a large amount: "We got a lot of pop!" Allot is to allow / categorize something: "We've been allotted two days." "Alot" is a nonstandard way of writing "a lot" and is not technically correct, so don't do it

* * *

**Words Treated as Homonyms:**

_For some strange reason, a lot of people treat a lot of words like they're homonyms. Which they're not. But since they're treated as such, I'm putting them in this list  
_

_Then vs Than_  
Then is processional: "We'll go to the mall, then to the grocery store." Can also be used as a conclusion: "A Boeing-737, then." Than is a comparison: "Greater than or less than." I have no tricks for this, just memorize the difference

_Choked vs Chocked_  
To choke is to gag on something or another: "Hana-chan choked on air at the unexpected declaration." I'll admit, I don't know what "chocked" is, so I looked it up, and here's the results from Google: "Prevent the forward movement of (a wheel or vehicle) with a chock" or "Support (a boat, cask, etc.) on chocks." Confusing these leaves a person's sentence making absolutely no sense

_Stared vs Starred_  
To stare is to look fixedly at something or something: "She stared at the massive dog in horror." To star is to perform in something: "Natalie Portman starred in the _Star Wars_ prequels"

_Fury vs Furry_  
Fury is anger: "His fury was palpable." Furry is, like, fuzzy fur on a cute, adorable, little animal: "It's a furry bunny! Glomp!"

_Insure vs Ensure_  
Insure is to prepare some person, place, or thing for something bad, to escape financial liability: "To insure a car." Ensure is the taking of steps to guarantee the safety of some such person, place, or thing: "To ensure we get there on time, we're leaving two hours early." Insure is financial, ensure is everything else

_Woman vs Women_  
Why is anyone even making this mistake? Woman is singular, women is plural. Just like men and man, and I never see anyone making that mistake. This includes words that incorporate woman / women in them. Noblewoman = singular, noblewomen = plural, and so-forth

_Breath vs Breathe vs Breadth_  
Breath is a noun pronounced "brehth"; it's a noun: "Her breath came out in little white puffs." Breathe is a verb pronounced "breeth": "Just breathe, honey, you'll get through this." Say them aloud and it'll all make sense. Also, breadth has absolutely nothing to do with breathing. Breadth has to do with distance: "A hair's breadth away"

_Ya vs Yea vs Yeah_  
Ya is slang for "you": "What're ya wearin'?" Yea means "yes" and is pronounced "yay": "Yea or nay?" Yeah is another way to say "yes": "Yeah, I know what you mean!" In order to tell the difference between "yea" and "yeah", say them aloud. Does it make sense to say something that sounds like "Yea (yay), my name's Youko" or "Yeah, my name's Youko"?

_Owe vs Ow_ _vs Oh_  
Owe is pronounced "oh" and means you're indebted: "I owe you one, man!" Ow is what you say when you hurt yourself: "Ow! I got a papercut!" Oh is an interjection: "Oh, it's you"

_Wonder vs Wander_  
Wonder is the wandering of one's thoughts: "I wonder where we're going." Wander is aimless movement: "They wandered endlessly..." You cannot "Wonder across the plains"; somehow I doubt your mind can physically travel like that, although your mind can "wander off" when you drift into a daydream ^^ Also, try saying these aloud: Wonder is pronounced "wuhn-der" while wander is pronounced "wahn-der"

_Confident vs Confidante_  
Confident is a feeling of surety: "I'm confident we can do this." Confidante is someone you confide in: "Honda-san is my confidante"

_Scared vs Scarred_  
To be scared is to be terrified: "Ah! You scared me!" To be scarred is to have permanent marks from wounds, physical, mental, or emotional: "Yamada-kun was scarred by his abusive childhood"

_Singed vs Sang_  
Singed is the past tense of singe—pronouncing the "g" like a "j"—burnt: "Coat singed, the fireman just barely made it out of the house." Sang is the past tense of sing—as in singing songs: "She sang a lilting lullaby"

_Teared vs Tore_  
Teared is the past tense of tear—pronounced "teer"—as when one cries: "The girl teared up, preparing for a full-out wail at her scraped knee." Tore is the past tense of tear—pronounced "tare"—as in ripping: "The mother tore through the crowds, searching for her precious baby"

_Dragged vs Drug_  
Dragged is the past tense of "drag", a verb: "The murderers dragged the body to the river." Drug is, well, a drug, and _not _the past tense for of "drag" as some people seem to think, especially since it's a noun: "Gregory House swallowed his drug, his beloved Vicoden"

_Wont vs Won't_  
Wont is pronounced like "want", but it means something completely different: habit. "I am wont to read," basically meaning "I have a habit of reading." Won't, meanwhile, is a contraction meaning "will not": "I won't read it!" Completely different!

_Illusion vs Allusion vs Elude  
_An illusion is an imaginary vision overlaying reality: "This illusion of peace deceived us into believing our world right." An allusion is a subtle reference to something: "He casually alluded to a conspiracy about 9/11..." Elude is a verb for evading: "The thief eluded capture." None of them even mean the same thing, yet I constantly come across confusion concerning these three words...

_Collage vs College  
_I make this mistake all the time... A collage is a collection of pictures put together to make another picture: "The critic admired the college appreciatively." College is the school: "I can't wait to go to college!"

_Conscious vs Conscience  
_To be conscious is to be aware (or otherwise awake): "Professor, I think think this plant is capable of conscious thought!" or "She's regaining consciousness" or "Your son's unconscious, but he should regain consciousness soon." A conscience is that little voice in your head that tells you you're doing something wrong: "The nurse was very conscientious in handling of the patient" or "My conscience is pestering me to apologize..."

_Loose vs Lose_  
Here's the trick: loose, the s is pronounced like an s; lose, the s is pronounced like a z. Loos vs looz. Different! To be loose is to be lax, slack, not secure, etcetera: "They're on the loose!" or "I've got a loose thread on my sweater." To lose is to not win: "You are so gonna lose this game!" or "Did you lose the tournament?" The past tense of "loose" is "loosed" or "loosened", the past tense of "lose" is "lost"

_Perosonal vs Personnel  
_Personal is, like, something close to you. "A personal memoir" or "Personal problems." Personnel are people employed by an organization or some other organized undertaking, such as the military or the church: "Would all personnel please report to your fire stations"

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**Basic Solutions**

The basic solution to just about every problem listed above is to know how to pronounce things (breath vs breathe), to recognize possessives and contractions (your vs you're), to know how to spell things (fury vs furry), and to identify nouns and verbs (effect vs affect)

For all the words-treated-like-homonyms, the solution seriously consists of saying them aloud; that is seriously how I tell the difference. Within the actual homonyms, a lot of the problems consist of possessive / contraction confusion, and especially tense confusion. Break apart the contractions, see if they make sense. You are also going to have to teach yourself how to recognize tenses, and if you're a writer, you should be working on that anyways. Read _professional _works and note how they use words, recognize the patterns. Honestly, one of the biggest problems on this site seriously consists of the inability to tell the difference between tenses. If you need any extra help with that, feel free to send me sentences; I'll fix the tenses and show what I did. Another general problem was the inability to recognize the difference between verbs and nouns. You should know this stuff; it's intermediate school curriculum. And it's a whole lot easier to tell the difference between a noun and a verb than an object and a subject, I'll tell you that!

Exercise:  
Identify the verbs and nouns in the following sentence: "Sally went to the store"

Answer: "Sally (n) went (v) to the store (n)." Did you get it? It's seriously that simple

Does all of this make sense? If not, please, feel free to ask questions. I'm here to help you guys, don't be afraid to ask for that help

* * *

_One more thing, since people annoy me with this one, as well_

**Plurals vs Possessives**

In almost all situations, this is the case: 's is possessive or a contraction, s is plural. "Saya's sword" (possessive) vs "Saya's gone" (contraction) vs "There're two Sayas!" (plural). Get it straight! It's _really_ not that hard. However, if anyone has any questions on this, go ahead and give me a sentence or whatever, I'll explain why you do what and so-forth, whatever you need to understand this basic concept that, apparently, English teachers suck at teaching, if the state of the English-writing world is anything to go by...

* * *

**A/N**  
I'm _sure_ I missed some, so just give me some more homonyms or words-people-treat-like-homonyms and I'll add them to the list! Honestly, half this list isn't even real homonyms...

Was this helpful? For some reason, everyone always has trouble with these, and it drives me crazy to see people using contractions as possessives and so-forth. Also, if you noticed any mistakes in my work, please point it out so I can fix it ^^ I'm only human, and seeing all these mistakes all the time, I sometimes find myself mimicking them on accident. I even learned I was misusing "awe" as "aw" while double-checking this stuff!

Thoughts? Comments? Confusion? Review, PM, contribute, ask questions!


	5. Basic English: Quotations

**A/N  
**I've been down for the past two weeks with a concussion. Bored out of my mind, I tell you, the recovery is worse than the receiving of the injury itself

So... Judging by, sadly, the majority of stories posted here on FanFiction, the American school system has completely failed in its duty to educate America's youth. Particularly in terms of quotations. So I'm posting another Basic English chapter! Spread it around to all your online writing buddies, because the confusion concerning this topic is very real

EDIT 3/11/12: Eh heh, there were some typos I went through and fixed. God, typos annoy me...

* * *

**Blood+ Fan-made Encyclopedia**  
_The story that's captivated us all..._

**Quotations**

I see endless mistakes in this department all the time. Here's a few examples of what I've come across—what _not_ to do:

"It's a monster!" She cried.  
"It's a monster." She cried.  
She cried, "it's a monster!"  
"It's a monster," She cried.  
She cried, "It's a monster,"  
"It's a monster," they ran for their lives.

All those? Wrong, pure and simple. Quit doing it -_-

And now that I've called you all out on your pitiful mistakes, allow me to explain why they're wrong, as well as what you should actually be doing. It's not as hard as you're making it.

Corrections (W = Wrong, C = Correct):  
1. W: "It's a monster!" She cried.  
C: "It's a monster!" she cried.  
2. W: "It's a monster." She cried.  
C: "It's a monster," she cried.  
3. W: She cried, "it's a monster!"  
C: "She cried, "It's a monster!"  
4. W: "It's a monster," She cried.  
C: "It's a monster," she cried.  
5. W: She cried, "It's a monster,"  
C: She cried, "It's a monster."  
6. W: "It's a monster," they ran for their lives.  
C: "It's a monster." They ran for their lives.

1. So you ended your quotation with an exclamation point. That does not mean your sentence as a whole has ended. By capitalizing that "She", that's exactly what you're implying. Why is that wrong? Well, if you wrote all your sentences like that, just cutting it in half with capital letters and periods that shouldn't exist, it would look a little something like this: "I went. To the market." And by capitalizing that "She", exclamation point or no, that's exactly what you're doing. The sentence isn't finished yet, so don't end it smack dab in the middle.  
2. Same deal, except this time you outright cut your sentence in half with a period, then capitalized your "She". The sentence _isn't_ done, so you end the quotation with a comma, not a period, and you don't capitalize the "She".  
3. While your quotation is still a part of your overall sentence, that doesn't mean you're allowed to skimp out on capitalizations. The quotation is a sentence in itself, and while you shouldn't end things before they're done with a period, the quotation itself is still a sentence on its own. Capitalize the "it's", showing that the quotation is a full sentence and not a continuation of some earlier, nonexistent sentence.  
4. And again, capitalizing in the middle of the sentence when it's completely unnecessary. Unless it's He, as in God, you shouldn't be capitalizing personal pronouns in the middle of your sentences! At least the punctuation was correct.  
5. In this case, you've ended your sentence. So why is there a comma at the end? A comma signifies a continuance, not an end. When you've ended something, make it clear. Use a period, an exclamation point, or a question mark; nothing else (although dashes are occasionally acceptable)  
6. In this case, I've put together two complete sentences. They aren't connected. The quotation is a sentence on its own, and the "they ran for their lives" is in no way a continuation or an addition to that completed sentence. The comma connects them, when they should not be connected. End your sentences with a period.

Let's practice what we've learned so far, shall we? Look at the paragraph below. What're the errors? How should you correct them? Feel free to copy that paragraph into your word processor and correct the mistakes. The correctly written paragraph will be at the bottom of this page.

"I like to eat pie." She said. "It's so tasty and yummy. And I always find myself eating more and more, unable to help myself." The girl smiled, "although it makes me sad when I realize I've eaten the whole dang pie," She sighed and put down her fork, realizing she'd done just that. But her smile returned as she said. "So then I go get another pie,"

* * *

Another annoying error I come across is this:

"We should make a break for it," said Sally. "I don't know," said John. "Yeah, we might not be fast enough," added Kit.

Three _different_ people are talking in the _same paragraph_? It's blasphemy! Don't do that. When another person starts talking, you start a new paragraph.

"We should make a break for it," said Sally.  
"I don't know," said John.  
"Yeah, we might not be fast enough," added Kit.

See, isn't that so much easier to understand? To not do so, it gets especially confusing when they have a whole conversation and are jumping all over the place. There are special conditions where you _are _allowed to put all those in one paragraph, but leave that sort of thing to the people who actually know what they're doing. (Like Anne Rice.)

There's also another thing with quotes that people annoy me with...

Say someone's giving a speech. I've seen this done incorrectly in two ways. Here's the first:

Mr. Speaker said, "Blah, blah, blah.  
And blah, blah, blah.  
Then some more blahs."

And the second:

Mr. Speaker said, "Blah, blah, blah."  
"And blah, blah, blah."  
"Then some more blahs."

This is the correct way to do it:

Mr. Speaker said, "Blah, blah, blah.  
"And blah, blah, blah.  
"Then some more blahs."

When you end each paragraph with quotes, as in the second incorrect example, it gives the appearance that Mr. Speaker has stopped talking and someone else has begun. Clearly, this isn't the case. In the first incorrect example, the quotes weren't closed 'til the very end of the _last_ paragraph he spoke in. This is bad because your readers forget that the quotes exist without having any to remind them that Mr. Speaker is still talking. You put quotes only at the beginning of each new paragraph as a reminder. Just think if Anne Rice hadn't put quotes at the beginning of every paragraph in _Interview with the Vampire_—I'd have forgotten Louis was still talking twenty pages ago!

There's also the matter of quoting in a quotation. This problem isn't as common as others, but I still come across it far too often.

The following is incorrect:

"And then she was all, "But I don't want to go," and I was all, "We have no other choice, Sally,"" John exclaimed.

The problem was, as usual, in the punctuation. Don't worry, though; this is simple. When quoting in a quote, you've already got a " in play, so incorporating another gives the appearance that the quote has ended, even though it hasn't. Instead, you use '. Simple enough?

"And then she was all, 'But I don't want to go,' and I was all, 'We have no other choice, Sally,'" John exclaimed.

And when you want to make things stupidly complicated, like quoting in a quote that's being quoted in another quote, you just alternate successively between " and '.

"John told us, 'Sally said Jane said, "It's the end of the world!"'"

Reminder: Don't forget to close _all_ your quotes! There were three different quotations in play in that example sentence, so I had to close all three of them. That's important, because otherwise you give the impression that some quotation or another is still in play, even if it has since ceased to be.

Then there's the matter of inserting an addition in the middle of your quote. This isn't hard, either. The examples below are all incorrect:

1. "And then." Daisy cried, "We ran for our lives!"  
2. "And then." Daisy cried. "We ran for our lives!"  
3. "And then," Daisy cried, "We ran for our lives!"  
4. "And then," Daisy cried. "We ran for our lives!"

Absolutely all those problems have already been covered. So what was done wrong? Simple: Inserted periods and capitalizations (which imply periods) in the middle of the sentence. Just because you're spitting your sentence in half with that addition doesn't mean you shouldn't reconnect the two halves. All the rules you learned before still apply one hundred percent.

"And then," Daisy cried, "we ran for our lives!"

Be sure not to confused that with two separate sentences, though.

"And then we ran for our lives!" Daisy cried. "We just barely escaped."

Those're two separate sentences, so keep it that way. But if it's one sentence like the earlier examples, don't cut them in half without reconnecting the pieces.

* * *

And now we enter that oh-so-complex realm of...thoughts.

There are many different styles for expressing a thought. The following is a bunch of examples of what you can do:

1. '_But where are they coming from?_' she wondered.  
2. "_But where are they coming from?_" she wondered.  
3._ But where are they coming from?_ she wondered.  
4. But where are they coming from? she wondered.  
5. 'But where are they coming from?' she wondered.  
6. "But where are they coming from?" she wondered.

1. My personal style ^^ It's pretty uncommon, actually, and I've only found four other people who use it  
2. I don't recommend this one. Double quotes automatically imply speech—_spoken _speech, rather than internal thoughts. The italics, at least, imply that there's more to this than a spoken phrase. To prevent your readers from becoming confused, should you use this style, you'll either have to post a key or use an addition stating that it's a thought every single time. High maintenance.  
3. This is the _professional_ way to express thoughts. In any professional, published work, this is the style you'll find used. And just because there aren't quotes framing the thought doesn't mean you get to ignore all the quotation rules. All the same rules still apply, which is why the "she" isn't capitalized. Don't split your sentences in half... I highly recommend this style.  
4. I do not in the least sanction this style, but it is out there. If you do use this style, you should know just how misleading it is. If you're ever quoting someone's thoughts, then you're writing in third person, and to use this style gives the impression that you're switching between first and third person—messy and unprofessional. I have used this style in some of my stories, but in every case it was purposely done to be misleading and confusing, as well as expressing a good degree of chaos.  
5. Another good method for expressing thoughts. This one isn't so common as I think it should be, so feel free to adopt this style if you want to be individualistic!  
6. I have the same complaints as for 2. Except in this case, you can't even use a key! The _only_ way to express to your readers that this is a thought and not spoken is to have that addition stating in no uncertain terms that it _is_ a thought, and that can get redundant a lot faster than you'd think. But this style's out there; as long as you always clearly state that it's a thought, you can get away with this.

And I reiterate that, in this matter, absolutely all the quotation rules you've learned apply! Even if your own personal style doesn't actually utilize quotes, treat it as though they're there. Otherwise you'll find yourself splitting your sentences in half and looking like an idiot.

* * *

On to a more subjective top: referencing.

An example of referencing is below:

"Aim for the cerbal cortex!" John whispered.  
"It's cerebral cortex, not 'cerbal cortex,' you idiot," Sally snapped.

Because a full sentence wasn't quoted, just part of one, the "cerbal" needed no capitalization. And now you also get to ignore lots of the rules you've only just mastered. In references, it's not a full sentence or an all-out quote. You actually don't need commas framing the reference at all; the only reason you'd need a comma is for the sake of the construction of the main sentence. "You idiot" is an addition, separate from but connected to the whole sentence; it requires a comma, quoted reference aside. You don't get to ignore those rules.

I think we need an example without a comma confusing you guys:

"There's no such thing as a 'cerbal cortex'—it's cerebral cortex, you idiot," Sally snapped.

Which brings us back to our favorite topic: punctuation. The official rule is, whenever you have quotes, you put the punctuation _inside_ the quotes (sans that dash). In the original example sentence, I put the comma inside. That is the correct way to punctuate your references. It doesn't matter whether the punctuation relates to the quoted reference or not, you put it _inside the quotes_.

And that brings on another topic: breaking the rules. I break that rule. Had I written that sentence in my personal style, it would've looked something like this:

"It's cerebral cortex, not 'cerbal cortex', you idiot," Sally snapped.

It's my personal belief that punctuation should be used to punctuate what it's involved with. In that case, it was the sentence being punctuated, not the quote, which is why I put the comma outside the quote. Disregard my style. I am breaking the rules.

'_Why can't I break the rules?_' you're probably wondering. When you have mastered—actually _mastered_—this subject, you're allowed to disregard a rule or two. But not before. I understand this topic inside and out; therefore I can disregard some tiny little punctuation rule because I disagree with it. If you're reading this and taking note of all these little rules with wonder and surprise, you obviously don't have quotes mastered. Until you master this subject, you are not allowed to take shortcuts and disregard _any_ of the rules. If you were to do so, it would be without really understanding what you're doing, and there is very high chance you'd make a fool of yourself in doing so. Like cutting your sentences in half! There's no excuse for breaking that rule. It's the same with pretty much all of them. Once you've mastered this subject, you'll understand what rules are breakable or bendable, and what aren't. _Then_ you can disregard certain things. But not a moment before! And until then, you are not allowed to do as I do, in respect to that particular rule.

Below are a few more _correct_ examples of quotes references (ignoring my personal style):

We read "Fire and Ice," as well as "Fog."  
Charlie glared at "the door" with blatant disdain.  
Sally followed John's instructions and moved to "jump in the hole, because that's just what you do, and scream the whole way down."

Ah yes, and be sure your references match your tense. What if the third example had been written like this...?

Sally followed John's instructions and "jump into the hole, because that's just what you do, and scream the whole way down."

That's a tense problem. You do have to accommodate your sentences for your references, and if you refuse to do so, then you just can't quote word-for-word. In which case it would be done as follows:

Sally followed John's instructions and jumped into the hole, because that's just what you do, and screamed the whole way down.

John's instructions were given in present tense, as evinced by the quote earlier. However, the description of Sally's actions was in past tense. For those of you who cannot identify between past and present tense (and I know this's also a big problem), I advise that you not bother referencing full-out sentences in quotes like in the example above. If you do and mess up the tenses, you end up looking like an idiot. I'm not joking. Figure out your tenses. Read lots and lots of _professionally published _books; observe; take notes. Do not assume you know your tenses if you can't figure out past and present tense in your own writing. The topic of tenses could take up an entire Basic English chapter on its own! We'll see if I ever get around to that.

* * *

And now for that correctly written paragraph I promised you. But, wait! There're _two_ paragraphs below! That's because there's more than one way you could've solved some of the errors. So here they are!

"I like to eat pie," she said. "It's so tasty and yummy. And I find myself eating more and more, unable to help myself," the girl smiled. "Although it makes me sad when I realize I've eaten the whole dang pie." She sighed and put down her fork, realizing she'd done just that. But her smile returned as she said, "So then I go get another pie."

"I like to eat pie." She said, "It's so tasty and yummy. And I find myself eating more and more, unable to help myself." The girl smiled. "Although it makes me sad when I realize I've eaten the whole dang pie," she sighed and put her fork down, realizing she'd done just that. But her smile returned as she said, "So then I go get another pie."

How'd you do? Are you happy or unhappy with how you did? Even if you did a terrible job correcting the paragraph, you should keep at it and continue working to improve. I'm actually self-taught, having learned all this through observation in professional works, and trial and error in my own efforts. If I can do all this on my own, you can too, with just a little effort ^^

If you want more practice, here're some more sentences to correct:

1. I let out a whooping. "We did it!"  
2. "To the other side of the field," we ran.  
3. "I've got a bad feeling about this," He thought.  
4. Jane sobbed, "he just fell and I couldn't catch him."  
5. _I'll make a break for it when he looks away._ Tiffany decided, steeling herself for what was to come.

Corrections:  
1. I let out a whooping, "We did it!"  
2. "To the other side of the field." We ran.  
3. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he thought.  
4. Jane sobbed, "He just fell and I couldn't catch him." Or you could have also used a period or a semicolon instead of a comma.  
5. _I'll make a break for it when he looks away_, Tiffany decided, steeling herself for what was to come.

If you have any other questions about quotes, send me a PM and I'll gladly do whatever I can to help ^^

* * *

**A/N  
**Helpful? Hopefully this'll clear up all that endless confusion I come across on this site... Clearly our school system sucks if this is such a problem

I'll also be posting another of these Basic English chapters on possessives and plurals eventually. Do you guys have any specific requests on topics for me to cover, though? I _could_ do a comma / semicolon chapter, but even I get confused about those occasionally. As I said, I'm self-taught... and seventeen. _I'm_ still learning the finer points of this ridiculously complicated language of ours

Thoughts? Comments? Confusion? You guys have better found this helpful—I worked hard on this!


	6. Basic English: Plurals & Possessives

**A/N**  
Finally, the Basic English: Plurals and Possessives chapter I promised. This one has been picking at me for _years_! I find it appalling how terrible everyone is with plurals and possessives! This topic was actually covered rather briefly in Basic English: Homonyms, but it definitely needs more extensive coverage. So here we all are now ^^

Also, a reviewer (an anonymous reviewer, so I couldn't reply directly) brought something to my attention. They said that I shouldn't have written _Ryuukyuu__ Daily_ with two U's, and that I should've written it _Ryūkyū Daily_. As someone learning Japanese, I can tell you a little something about what ū really means. It signifies an extended vowel. But that romanization style for extensions can be misleading for anyone who's actually trying to spell these things in Japanese. Ā is written ああ (aa); ī is written いい (ii); and ū is written うう (uu). However, ē could be written ええ (ee) or えい (ei), which, while phonetically identical, are spelled differently; and ō can be written おお (oo) or おう (ou), which, again, are phonetically identically but differently spelled. I do very much dislike how misleading this style of romanization is because, when I'm typing in IME, I'm transliterating roomaji to hiragana, and that blasted line doesn't do anything for me; I actually have to type out the extensions in order for things to come out right. So when writing anything that's romanized, I also write out the extensions, rather than going through the effort of inserting a letter with that line over it  
I ranted... But that's my justification! Also, there's no such thing as an official roomaji style. My style's just as legitimate as writing the extensions with lines over the letters. So I'm not changing my style. Thank you for bringing it up, though. And sorry for ranting haha

* * *

**Fan-made Blood+ Encyclopedia****  
**_The story that's captivated us all…_

**Basic English: Plurals and Possessives**

For the following examples, I just breezed through summaries and stories in the _Naruto_ fandom and picked out examples where plurals, possessives, and contractions were confused. These stories may or may not be good, but the misuse automatically labels what may otherwise be a good story as garbage to those who can actually differentiate. (I don't read stories with these errors in the summaries). Don't make these people's mistakes!

1. With war comes peace, with peace comes company. Not all company is wanted. How will Madara react to being pulled into another clans private war?  
2. Naruto inherit's more than just Minato's looks and Will of Fire. He Inherits his speed.  
3. Sarkura is one of the few in her school to be accepted to go to Leaf Preforming Academy in Japan. Excpecting it to be like her school in Canada with no friends, and no boyfriends, shes in for a huge surprise when all the boys in her new school like her!  
4. "You should know Suna shinobi's are not easy to capture," Temari said to the leader.  
5. Narutos an Anthro and Gaaras a demon. Can the two truley be together in the world where anthros are hated and gaaras hiding the fact hes a demon?  
6. "But now that we're in Suna she says we need to be Kaneko's."  
7. Temaris adopted daughter Matsuri has a secret.

And the corrections (for everything, not just plurals / possessives / contractions):

1. With war comes peace, with peace comes company. Not all company is wanted. How will Madara react to being pulled into another clan's private war?  
2. Naruto inherits more than just Minato's looks and Will of Fire. He inherits his speed.  
3. Sakura is one of the few in her school to be accepted to go to Leaf Performing Academy in Japan. Expecting it to be like her school in Canada, with no friends and no boyfriends, she's in for a huge surprise when all the boys in her new school like her!  
4. "You should know Suna shinobi(s) are not easy to capture," Temari said to the leader.  
5. Naruto's an anthro and Gaara's a demon. Can the two truly be together in the world where anthros are hated and Gaara's hiding the fact that he's a demon?  
6. "But now that we're in Suna, she says we need to be Kaneko(s)."  
7. Temari's adopted daughter Matsuri has a secret.

So what did everyone do wrong? How were the examples corrected? As it turns out, the concept of plurals, possessives, and contractions is actually quite simple (most of the time, at least).

Plurals

For plurals, you will almost always add an S to the end of a word, and then it's plural! Below are a few examples of this:

The woman bought four apples at the market.  
She could buy either two dresses or three pairs of jeans, but she really wanted to purchase a certain pair of high-heeled boots.  
I've traveled to various countries over my lifetime.  
Jason picked up the bats, bags, bases, and gloves, threw them into their assigned boxes, and ran out to meet his teammates.

Those are all basic plural examples. Sometimes you add an S, sometimes an E-S, but it's very simple overall.

Things get slightly tricky when a word either has its own plural form or none at all. And thus more examples:

The people were split up into two groups: men and women.  
There were moose and deer hidden amongst the trees!  
We read about ten _haiku_.

In this situation, "men" and "women" are the plural forms of "man" and "woman", and that is a universal rule. Even if "man" is just a _part_ of a word, if you want to make that word plural, you do have to use the plural form of "man": "nobleman" to "noblemen", for instance. For moose and deer—those words don't have plural forms! That's not very common, though; you'll just have to memorize those few words out there that don't have plural forms and just word your sentences so it becomes clear that it's expressing the existence of more than one moose or deer, such as was done in the example. As for "_haiku_"... That's a Japanese word, and there's no such thing as a plural form in Japanese. So for any Japanese words, you treat it the same as you would treat words like "moose" and "deer" and just express its plurality with your wordings. This's a really big problem in the _Naruto_ fandom, with all those Japanese words like "_shinobi_" and "_jounin_" and so-forth. If you so insist, however (and as long as you're consistent), you _are_ allowed to put an S at the end of Japanese words to make them plural. But only if you're consistent!

There are a few more exceptions to the general S-rule for plurals. The plural forms for these next exceptions are listed below:

1970's  
ANBU's  
A's

In the case of numbers, acronyms, and single-letter-capitalizations, you use an apostrophe-S to signify both possessiveness and plurality. I broke this rule in the first chapter of this encyclopedia because I disagreed with it; I'm gonna go back and fix that eventually. You do have to follow this rule.  
However, for full words that are merely written in all caps (meaning they aren't short for something), you do not need an apostrophe-S combo, merely an S, to make it plural. An example of this would be the SOLDIERs of Final Fantasy VII or the ALICEs of "Alice Human Sacrifice"

Possessives

For possessives, the rule of thumb is to do an apostrophe + S. Examples:

"That is Stacy's book!" John cried.  
We went to John's house yesterday.  
The museum's façade was very artfully done.

Really freaking simple. Almost every single word in existence uses an apostrophe-S combo. There are a few words exempt from this, however.

Who's vs. Whose  
It's vs. Its

"Who's" is a contraction for "who is". "Whose" is the possessive form of "who". Example: "Whose book is this?" and "Who's there?"  
"It's" is a contraction for "it is". "Its" is the possessive form of "it". Example: "The monster—its arms dragged on the ground like an ape's" and "It's coming—it's gonna eat us!"

Then there's one more exception, although this one's actually slightly optional. The _official_ rule is that you have to use an apostrophe-S to make a proper noun ending with an S possessive. However, the name Jesus is exempt from this rule, and to make Jesus possessive, you write it "Jesus'". For people like me who think it's ridiculous to just have one stupid exception, we ignore that _official_ rule and just make every proper noun ending with S—mainly names—possessive by just putting an apostrophe at the end. Below are examples of both methods. And you have to pick one or the other—you can't do _both_!

That's Jones' book.  
We're going to Jesus' house tomorrow; wanna come?  
Mr. Adams's dog almost bit me!  
The party's at Thomas's house—be there.

Plural Possessives

And this is where everyone screws up. The following sentences utilize plural possessives:

The wolves' howls echoed through the night.  
We grabbed the children's hands and dragged them with us through the museum.  
Listening to fifty babies' cries—I couldn't stand it and ran from the room.  
The sight of five deer's antlers flashing on by caught us unawares.

It's really not all that difficult. First you put the word into its plural form. "Wolves" is the plural form of "wolf", so that was simple enough. Then you add an apostrophe to the very end to make it possessive. Done. "Children", meanwhile, is the plural form of "child" and doesn't use an S to make it plural; the word "children" itself is plural, so you just add on an apostrophe-S to signify that it's a plural possessive. You do the same thing for words that don't have plural forms, such as was done in the last sentence with "deer's". Simple enough?

Practice What You've Learned

The following is a list of words in singular, plural, possessive, contractual, and plural possessive form. Paste them into your word processor or something and label them as being singular, plural, possessive, contractual, or plural possessive; if you can't tell without any context clues, then just put down what it could be—meaning there might be two possible answers for a single question.

1. Deer  
2. People  
3. Children  
4. It's  
5. Boxes  
6. Who's  
7. Whose  
8. Fifties  
9. Schools'  
10. Haiku  
11. Countries  
12. Noblemen  
13. Noblewoman  
14. Watchers'  
15. Wolves  
16. Tricks  
17. Its  
18. Fishes  
19. Fish's  
20. Nebulae's

Answers:

1. Plural or Singular  
2. Plural  
3. Plural  
4. Contraction  
5. Plural  
6. Contraction  
7. Possessive  
8. Plural  
9. Plural Possessive  
10. Plural or Singular  
11. Plural  
12. Plural  
13. Singular  
14. Plural Possessive  
15. Plural  
16. Plural  
17. Possessive  
18. Plural  
19. Possessive, Plural Possessive, Singular with Contraction, or Plural with Contraction  
20. Plural Possessive

How'd you do? Better or worse than you'd hoped? Did you get all four possible answers for 19 haha?

Well, if you think you still need more practice, then do the exercise below. The following paragraph is littered with errors. Paste it into your word processor and correct the errors. Compare to the correctly written paragraph at the bottom of this page.

I woke up at 7:00 a.m. The suns rays glared through my window and I squinted my eye's. Sigh. "Time to get up," I murmured to myself, pulling off the sheets' and comforter. The floor was cold beneath my bare feet and I withheld a shivers. My clothes' were in a heap on the floor, and I rifled through the pile to pick out my outfit for the day: a pair of white sneaker's, polka dotted socks, a plaid skirt, and a white blouse with an upturned collar. I quickly brushed my hair and stumbled into the kitchen, still pulling on my shoe's, mumbling a "G'morning" to my mom. She plopped an orange juice down on the table before me, those neon juice's sloshing around unappetizingly. I grimaced. Then I looked at the clock. "7:12‽" I cried. "Class starts in three minute's! Mom—why didn't you wake me sooner?" Downing the juice, I snatched up my backpack and raced out the door, papers' flying in my wake because I hadn't bothered to zip my bag closed. So frantic was I that I never even heard my mom calling to me that I don't exactly have school on Saturday's.

A~nd the correctly written paragraph:

I woke up at 7:00 a.m. The sun's rays glared through my window and I squinted my eyes. Sigh. "Time to get up," I murmured to myself, pulling off the sheets and comforter. The floor was cold beneath my bare feet and I withheld a shiver. My clothes were in a heap on the floor, and I rifled through the pile to pick out my outfit for the day: a pair of white sneakers, polka dotted socks, a plaid skirt, and a white blouse with an upturned collar. I quickly brushed my hair and stumbles into the kitchen, still pulling my my shoe(s), mumbling a "G'morning" to my mom. She plopped an orange juice down on the table before, those neon juices sloshing around unappetizingly. I grimaced. Then I looked at the clock. "7:12‽" I cried. "Class starts in three minutes! Mom—why didn't you wake me sooner?" Downing the juice, I snatched up my backpack and raced out the door, papers flying in my wake because I hadn't bothered to zip my bag closed. So frantic was I that I never even heard my mom calling to me that I don't exactly have school on Saturdays.

Any improvement? Did you suck it or rock it? Keep practicing! This's actually a pretty logical subject, so all you have to do is memorize the logic haha. Anyhow, now that you've done both these exercises, do my corrections on those _Naruto_ fics make any more sense?

* * *

**A/N**  
Any other questions? Feel free to ask and I'd be happy to answer and help y'all out! Honestly, the confusion concerning this subject is simply astounding. I'll admit that we spent less than a day on plurals in my school, way back in seventh grade. The America school system is crap, that's for sure, but that's no excuse for messing this up!

Thoughts? Comments? Confusion?


	7. Songs and Episodes

**A/N**  
For the first time in a very long time, I've reopened the document for the Timeline. Up to 2004, I need only do some minor edits. I'll have to rewrite everything from 2004 onwards through 2007, however. That'll take some time, but I've already got _all_ the dates and events written out. It's just a matter of simplifying everything. I don't think you guys really want a 25,000 word timeline to search through for some minor event or something haha. I'll try to keep it under 5,000 this time  
I still need to finish that Basic English: Plurals and Possessives chapter...

Until then. Here's a more technical resource for all you fellow obsessionists! I don't really know why you'd need this stuff, but it's here. And Romanizations and translations are from Wikipedia, although I tweaked some stuff to suit what I believe it should be

* * *

**Blood+ Fan-made Encyclopedia**  
_The story that's captivated us all..._

**Anime Songs / Translations:**

Aozora no NAMIDA (青空のナミダ) – by Hitomi Takahashi, 1st OP for the B+ show. Translation (by me): The Blue Sky's Tears  
Kataritsugu Koto (語り継ぐこと) – by Chitose Hajime, 1st closer. Translation (courtesy of Wikipedia): The Things I Pass Down  
Seasons' Call – by Hyde, 2nd OP  
Cry No More – by Mika Nakashima, 2nd closer  
Colors of the Heart – by UVERworld, 3rd OP  
This Love – by Angela Aki, 3rd closer  
Raion (雷音) – by Jinn, 4th OP. Translation (by Google): Thunder Clap  
Brand New Map – by K, 4th closer; Kataritsugu Koto was used as the closer for the final episode, though

* * *

**Episode Name List:**

1: ファーストキス – FAASUTO KISU – First Kiss  
2: 魔法の言葉 – Mahou no Kotoba – Magic Words  
3: はじまりの場所 – Hajimari no Basho – The Place Where it All Began  
4: あぶない少年 – Abunai Shounen – Dangerous Boy  
5: 暗い森の向こうへ – Kurai Mori no Mukou e – Beyond the Dangerous Forest  
6: お父さんの手 – Otousan no Te – My Father's Hands  
7: 私がやらなきゃ – Watashi ga Yaranakya – I Must Do It  
8: ファントム·オブ·ザ·スクール – FANTOMU OBU ZA SUKUURU – Phantom of the School  
9: それぞれの虹 – Sorezore no Niji – Rainbow for Each  
10: あなたに会いたい – Anata ni Aitai – I Want to See You  
11: ダンスのあとで – DANSU no Ato de – After the Dance  
12: 白い霧にさそわれて – Shiroi Kiri ni Sasowarete – Lured by the White Mist  
13: ジャングル·パラダイス – JANGURU PARADAISU – Jungle Paradise  
14: さいごの日曜日 – Saigo no Nichiyoubi – The Last Sunday  
15: おいかけたいの! – Oikaketai no! – I Want to Pursue!  
16: シベリアンエクスプレス – SHIBERIAN EKUSUPURESU – Siberian Express  
17: 約束おぼえてる? – Yakusoku Oboeteru? – Do You Remember the Promise?  
18: エカテリンブルグの月 – EKATERINBURUGU no Tsuki – Moon Over Yekaterinburg  
19: 折れたココロ – Oreta KOKORO – Broken Heart  
20: シュヴァリエ – SHUVARIE – Chevalier  
21: すっぱいぶどう – Suppai Budou – Sour Grapes  
22: 動物園 – Doubutsu-en – The Zoo  
23: ふたりのシュヴァリエ – Futari no SHUVARIE – Two Chevalier  
24: 軽やかなる歌声 – Karoyaka Naru Utagoe – Airy Singing Voice  
25: 赤い盾 – Akai Tate – The Red Shield  
26: サヤに従うもの – SAYA ni shitagu Mono – Those Who Serve Saya  
27: パリ·ジュテーム – PARI JATEEMU – Paris, Je t'Aime  
28: 限りあるもの – Kagiri Aru Mono – Limited Existence  
29: 呪われた血 – Norowareta Chi – Cursed Blood  
30: ジョエルの日記 – JOERU no Nikki – Joel's Diary  
31: 壊れゆく盾 – Koware Yuku Tate – Breaking the Shield  
32: ボーイ·ミーツ·ガール – BOOI MIITSU GAARU – Boy Meets Girl  
33: 信じるチカラ – Shinjiru CHIKARA – The Power of Believing  
34: 俺たちのいる世界 – Oretachi no Iru Sekai – The World Where We Exist  
35: 希望のない明日 – Kibou no Nai Ashita – Tomorrow Without Hope  
36: すれちがう想い – Surechigau Omoi – Mismatched Feelings  
37: 狂おしいまでに – Kuruoshii Made ni – To the Sheer Level of Madness  
38: 決戦の島 – Kessen no Shima – Showdown Island  
39: 魔法の言葉をもう一度 – Mahou no Kotoba wo Mouichido – Magic Words Once More  
40: シュヴァリエの見る夢 – SHUVARIE no Miru Yume – The Dreams of a Chevalier  
41: 私の居場所 – Watashi no Ibasho – The Place Where I Belong  
42: 響く、歌声 – Hibiku, Utagoe – Soprano of Miracles  
43: こころ乱れて – Kokoro Midarete – Confused Heart  
44: 光の中に – Hikari no Naka ni – Into the Light  
45: 手のひらを太陽に – Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni – Turn the Palm of Your Hand Toward the Sun  
46: あした天気になあれ – Ashita Tenki ni Naare – May Tomorrow Be a Clear Day  
47: 全ての血を超えて – Subete no Chi wo Koete – Beyond All Blood  
48: 摩天楼オペラ – Matenrou OPERA – Skyscraper Opera  
49: 二人の女王 – Futari no Joou – Two Queens  
50: ナンクルナイサ – NANKURUNAISA – Nankurunaisa

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**A/N**  
Thoughts? Comments? Confusion?


	8. Japan

**A/N**  
Finally, the Japan chapter I've been talking about since forever

I'm going to Japan with my Japanese class in July. It'll be a sixteen day trip, and the majority of it will be spent in Tokyo, then some time in Kyoto. While in Tokyo, we will all be doing something called a "home-stay", where we live with a real Japanese family and attend a real Japanese high school (granted, not in earnest, and we won't have to wear uniforms). During that period, I'm going to be taking notes like there's no tomorrow, at which point this entire chapter will be expanded beyond belief. Until then, if anyone's got anything to add, go ahead and say so, and I'll add it! I'll admit, this chapter is really lacking on anything Okinawan...

Frosty Wings: Roomaji is written ローマ字. That ー is another way to write a vowel extension, and yet again one will find Roomaji can be written with that over-lined O: Rōmaji. I don't know why, but I've also seen it written Romanji (and used to write it that way, too...)

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**Blood+ Fan-made Encyclopedia  
**_The story that's captivated us all..._

**Japan**

**School**

Uniforms—  
In Japan, school uniforms are standard issue. While preschool, primary, and intermediate schools do not always require a uniform, junior and senior highs all do. As the Japanese school system's standards are universal country-wide, one will find all the uniforms to follow a consistent pattern  
For one, boys' color schemes will always be darker than girls'; also, boys' uniforms are based off Prussian military dress and will always incorporate a tie. Meanwhile, girls will absolutely always wear skirts and blouses, and the general outfit will more than likely have a sailor-esque design, as well as a big bow, usually red, instead of a necktie. If pre-junior high schools also have uniforms, they will be slightly less formal—no tie, for instance—but will still follow this same pattern  
More often than not, there will be haircut requirements—length limits, mostly, as boys are not allowed to have hair beyond shoulder-length; girls' is less strict, and just a general requirement where it can't be longer than mid-back and must be well-kempt. Braids are fine, but no real decoration is allowed, no charms or ribbons. Also, students are not allowed to dye their hair. (Natural redheads, though, are considered troublemakers, and are encouraged to dye their hair a less assuming shade to fit in.) Sometimes, things can get a bit out of hand, so describes the following quote: "Japanese students with tinted or long hair have been known have had their hair shorn on the spot by teachers, and one middle school in the city of Kitakyushu once took aside the kids with tinted hair and had staff in a designated area spray it back to black" (_tvtropes. org / pmwiki / pmwiki. php / Main / DelinquentHair_)  
Then there are "mascots" and jewelry. "Mascots" are basically key chains. They are not allowed, period. No stickers or glitter, either. In most schools, as well, piercings are not allowed; this includes earrings, nose-rings, etcetera, and rings and necklaces are also discouraged  
Everyone will wear the same socks, although there may be leeway on the height of the socks, depending on the skirt length. They will also be required to wear the same shoes, granting the differing styles between boys' and girls'. Everyone will also have the same bags—not backpacks, but instead leather, brief-case-styled over-the-shoulder bags; professional-looking messenger bags, in other words  
And, as always, when one enters a building in Japan, they will be required to remove their shoes and will replace them with slippers, usually stored in a special locker room or other shelving units, so they will also have identical slippers just for this purpose, of which are generally white, no matter the uniform color scheme

Cram School—  
Pretty much every single Japanese student, from kindergarten up, will attend Cram School, at least every weekday, as well as Saturday; it's also common to go on Sunday, as well. Cram School will keep a student in school, generally, until nightfall. It will focus on whatever classes a student is already taking, as well as supplementary classes; calligraphy is a very common Cram Class, as good penmanship is revered. (An off-note on that: When submitting one's résumé, employers prefer it to be handwritten, so that they can examine one's penmanship; cheating is common, as those with less-than-perfect calligraphy bribe their friends into writing theirs for them ;D)

Classes—  
_I'm not well-versed in this subject. Completely open to suggestions from those who know what they're talking about  
_English is a requirement in every single Japanese school, at least through all of high school. However, this class is in no way expected to make any of the students fluent in English; it's almost entirely composed of memorizing words and phrases, and little work is put into helping students learn how to articulate using the words they've learned. If an American or other English-speaking person goes to Japan, it's safe to say that they will be bombarded with Japanese enthusiastically trying to speak English with them; this is not as extreme in Okinawa (considering the presence of an American military base), but still apparent in a more minor way. Also, it's considered "cool" to incorporate English words into their language, in the same way that incorporating French is "cool" to us Americans. And an American student would still be required to take English alongside the Japanese; they will be taunted if they "mispronounce" tomato, potato, vase, or any other such word where the pronunciation can so vary

What Class is Like—  
Japanese schooling can be summed up as memorization. For however long a class period is, the teacher spends the entire class lecturing, while the students take diligent notes on the lecture. No questions—one doesn't question the teacher. Then, they go to Cram School to figure out what their notes _mean_, at which point they go home and study 'til they pass out, basically. Or at least, that's what I've been able to gather in my observations. Feel free to contradict me with actual facts ^^  
More seriously, however. Schooling is rigorous in Japan. My sensei told me one story of a girl who would come home from school and study until 10:00 p.m., when she went to sleep; she would then wake at 2:00 a.m. to continue studying. It's that intense. Sensei also describes the work done in classes as "busy work". For instance, a teacher will assign their class pages 102-153 of a textbook, and the students have to copy all these pages into a notebook; the more pages they take up in this notebook doing this, the "better" the student they are, when in fact the teacher does not even pay any attention whatsoever to what was actually written, only the sheer amount of work done, even thought all their work was actually littered with uncorrected mistakes  
There are also entrance examinations, the period surrounding these exams so affectionately referred to as "Exam Hell" by students. For three to four months, a student is expected to study at all times; literally, all times. In order to hang out with friends or go see a movie, they cannot tell their parents or anyone else, instead sneaking out and doing so in secret. As for what these entrance examinations are... In Japan, all the schools are ranked, and in order to get into the best college, once must have gone to the best high school; in order to have gotten in the best high school, one must have gone to the best junior high; and all the way back to preschool. To enter each and every level of schooling, students must take entrance examinations, and their scores on the test determine which school they get into, barring private schools

Logistics—  
From the first grade up, absolutely all students are required to get to and from school independently. First graders are actually very easy to spot: Look for the yellow hat. They all wear them, as a sign that they're first graders, so nice people can help them out ^^ Thenceforth, they're on their own. Students who get to school by bike: There are bike racks stacked upon one another; guys put their bikes on the upper racks, girls on the bottom. Most travel by bus, bullet train, or foot. Most students do not own cars, but for those who do, they're generally socially required to cart their friends around—although said friends would never be so imposing as to actually bother asking

Schools—  
Not a lot of money is put into school buildings. They all follow a cookie-cutter-pattern and are virtually identical across the country  
There is no heating or air conditioning, and in winter students will come to class and take notes with gloves on, and in the summer they just suffer. Their only relief is the fact that there are both winter and summer uniforms to accommodate the climate  
There are also no janitors. The students take turns cleaning the entire school, following a strict schedule and working together to clean each and every thing. Japanese schools are sparkling clean, and students are wary of dirtying anything since they'll be the ones who have to clean it up  
There are no cafeterias. Lunches are eaten in the classroom. There are no school lunches, either, so everyone has to bring their own boxed lunch, called an _o-bento_. A beautiful _o-bento_, supposedly, is the sign of a devoted mother. When eating their lunch (or any other meal, for that matter), a student is expected to consume everything, down to the last grain of rice; to do otherwise would be wasteful, something looked down upon in Japanese society  
All students are assigned a homeroom. They never leave this homeroom. Instead of the students moving from class to class, they stay in this same classroom with these same classmates all year. The teachers are the ones that have to cycle between the classrooms  
There are no locker rooms. For gym, the boys go to one classroom to change, the girls to another, and they close the curtains on the windows for privacy. Also, there is no gym uniform that I am aware of, but girls usually wear shorts so short that they'd have to go to the office here in my American school

Other Stuff—  
The drop-out rate in Japanese high schools is 10%. In case you're wondering, it's 25% in America  
Students are required to attend at least one club

_For more in-depth info about some of the stuff I mentioned, I suggest the following site: _factsanddetails. com / ? itemid = 830&catid = 23&subcatid = 150 | _I forewarn, however, that it seriously bashes the Japanese educational system (which, I agree, is in some _serious_ need of reform)_

**Violence**

Japan has an extremely low crime rate. If one visits, the people's nicety will certainly be immediately noticeable (as long as you avoid Tokyo ;D), and everyone's chatty and friendly. Punks are avoided like the plague, as well as any and every suspected delinquent (even those aren't actually delinquents!) Japan's low crime rate might also be attributed to their 99% conviction rate (a topic of which will be explored in **Law**). That's pretty good incentive right there to avoid committing a crime. And, looking back on the _tsunami_ just recently, one might note that there was absolutely no looting. At all. Such a weird thought to an American like myself. Well, Japan is conformist and avoids conflict (WWII aside). Out of the goodness of their hearts, instead of shooting the needy people who begged for food at their shops, shop-owners instead handed out supplies for free! Now, people couldn't just grab whatever they wanted, but they did get food, water, and batteries. They stood calmly in line for hours on end, and were polite and extremely grateful for it. For all the ranting I guarantee I'll continue to do throughout this post, I must look up to the Japanese for this social norm of theirs—selflessness and patience and a sense of societal importance  
Okinawa is a lot more liberal about all this (don't get any ideas, though—it's still nothing like America). They eat meat often and physical activity is common and encouraged. Fighting's still discouraged, but delinquents aren't so severely ostracized as further north. That's the only reason why Kai can get away with his tomfoolery. As for those like Mao, the daughter of a _Yakuza _gangster—she better keep that secret 'til she graduates, else she'll be expelled from her school. That's a discouragement against crime: high school gangsters, or relatives of gangsters, get expelled the moment the school finds out about their affiliation. And so do prostitutes, or anyone even so much as suspected of prostitution

**Law**

As mentioned in **Violence**, Japan has a 99% conviction rate. That's pretty freaking high. Now, let's explore why...  
Japan doesn't have a jury system. Like, at all. They're working on it, but for now we'll stick to the current execution of Japanese law. In a Japanese courtroom, there will be three judges, the accused, and the aggrieved prosecutor. Period. The accused and prosecutor will make their cases to the judges, said judges will confer amongst themselves, and then a sentence will be handed out. That's how it works. So, if your _Blood+_ fic incorporates prosecution, I advise you research this principle further, just so long as you remember the basic fact that a jury wouldn't be involved. Also, anyone so much as suspected of a crime will be viewed as trash for the remainder of their life  
They've been trying since '07 or '08 to instate a jury system, but things haven't been working out... The Japanese mindset is the enemy. Silence is a virtue. They're happy to follow the authority figures and leave actual decision-making to the people there to do it for them. So, they've done about 300 mock trials, and they've all ended...uh... not well, to say the least. The jury never really makes a decision. They turn to the three judges for help, and then the judges basically run the show without even bothering to pretend the jury exists, and the jury's happy to let it go along like that. To make matters worse, Japanese adults are absolutely terrified they'll get chosen to sit on the jury—terrified beyond belief at making a stand, opposing an imposing attorney all but ordering them to do this or that. One can hope that Japan's youth, feeling oppressed at the moment, will make a stand and oppose all this conformism, instating a jury and semi-fair legal system. Perhaps thirty years in the future, things'll be better, although it certainly isn't gonna be happening before 2020  
Technically speaking, prostitution is not legal in Japan. There are countless loopholes, however, the biggest being loose enforcement and loose interpretation. Japanese law defines prositution as sexual intercourse with an unspecified person for payment. And intercourse is specifically defined as vaginal, meaning oral, anal, and any other kind of sex is _not_ prohibited, even with payment. This opens the door for countless sex clubs that offer everthing except vaginal intercourse and remain legal through this. Even if a prostitute and / or their customer gets caught, the law has no specifications as to the penalties for breaking the prostitution laws; penalties are left to the three judges. Prostitution itself is legally referred to as "compensated dating", consisting of sex clubs, call girls ("delivery health services"), soaplands (bath houses where a customer is "soaped up and serviced" by staff members), fashion health salons and pink salons ("notionally massage or esthetic treatment parlors"), and image clubs (themed sex clubs, really). For more on prostitution in Japan, go to Wikipedia: _en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Prostitution_in_Japan#Prostitution_today_

_I'm open to a ton of help in this section—I'm not very informed on law, particularly not Japanese law_

**Individualism**

Individualism is discouraged (read: suppressed) in Japan. It's a homogenous society—which basically means that just about everyone is Japanese and they look it. It's also conformist, which means they also all act it. As detailed in **School**, any mascots or jewelry are either frowned upon, confiscated, or grounds for discipline. Dyeing one's hair is also not allowed. Because of uniforms, no one can express themselves with their clothes, nor can they have any cool hairdos. Since just about everyone is Japanese, they all have black hair and irises, almond eyes, etcetera, and yet they are literally not allowed to do anything to differentiate themselves from each other. So, it's common practice to never get braces, no matter how bad one's teeth, so as to attain at least a little individualism: crooked teeth. And for anyone who's "outstanding" or "amazing", as in excelling in something like sports or art or something, they are expected to be extra humble, to deny any and all compliments (as is Japanese custom), and they're generally ostracized to some degree for being "different". Often, people also have the same names; in watching _anime_, you might have noticed how many characters are named Kai, Mao, Riku, Haruhi, Youko, Yuki, Tsukiko, Honda, etcetera. What else is a person to do? Protest? Fat chance—silence is a virtue in Japanese culture, and the outspoken are looked down upon and ostracized (of which is the worst possible thing to happen to a person in this society)

**Random Little Tidbits**

In America, when someone sneezes, you say "Bless you" or "God bless you", like the good little Christian you are. In Japan, sneezing is rude. Ignore it, else you'll embarrass the poor soul  
In America, slurping is rude. In Japan, it's a compliment to the chef  
In Japan, the waiters don't wait on you. They're in the kitchen, chatting with the chefs. If you want something, call out 「すみません」 - "Sumimasen" – "Excuse me" in a really deep voice, as that apparently carries better, and make sure you're loud, too, so they can hear you clear across the room. In America, that'd be ridiculously rude and callous—in Japan, that's restaurant courtesy  
In skyscrapers, astoundingly often, Americans will not have a thirteenth floor. In Japan, they don't have a fourth floor. Thirteen here is bad luck; four there is the number of death! Seven's still a lucky number, though ^^ _The_ lucky number, in fact  
Never tip your waiter or waitress  
Shops will often have a little tray upon which a customer places their money or credit card to pay for their purchase(s). One will place their money or plastic on the tray and slide the tray over to the shopkeeper, of whom will then ring up the purchase(s) and slide the tray with one's change or plastic back over. If this tray is not available, one holds out their money or credit card in both hands, to emphasize how important these items are; the shopkeeper will accept this with, again, both hands, ring up the purchase(s), and then return the change or credit card in the same manner  
In all homes and the majority of buildings (including some hospitals), one is not allowed to enter without first removing their shoes. When first entering through the front door, one will enter a small little area called a _genkan_; (correct me if I'm wrong, but) the floor's usually wood or stone and sunken to be at the same level as the door but below the rest of the house. One usually sits on the raised floor of the main house to remove their shoes, which are then either placed in a cubby or pushed off neatly to the side. There will always be complimentary slippers for guests to change into so they don't have to walk around barefoot or in their socks. The very concept of entering a building without first removing one's shoes is actually very foreign to the Japanese, and there are even hospitals where one has to remove their shoes to enter (and this applies even to patients coming in for a sprained ankle, no matter how much they _don't_ want to remove their shoes)  
In a Japanese home, the shower and bath will often be at one end of the house and the toilet at the other  
When foreigners visit Japan, they are required to have their passport on their person at all times or be arrested  
The houses are not numbered according to their location, but instead based on their age. The oldest buildings have the lowest numbers, the newest the highest numbers. This makes it incredibly difficult to find any address, so there are "police boxes" stationed all over the place. A police box—called a _kouban_—will have around three officers inside, and people stop by their local police box to ask directions all the time. These officers are, therefore, very familiar with the area in which they're stationed, as well as all the people and businesses  
Smoking is highly prevalent in Japan

**The Pinnacle of Hypocrisy**

As we all already know, Japan is a patriarchal society. And, being a woman, I have a serious problem with that. So, allow me to rant on one or their patriarchal hypocrisies...

In Japan, the age of consent is thirteen. Prostitution can be a legitimate occupation. Yet any girl caught prostituting herself is kicked out of her school and considered a whore. And any non-virginal girl is considered unfit for marriage. But if she doesn't get married before thirty, she's a bitter old spinster who has no hope of ever reigning in a husband, and thus brings ignominy upon her poor, poor family. And even with all this, a woman in corporate Japan cannot get above some of the most meager jobs—like secretary or janitor—unless she sleeps with her superiors, at which point she is considered a soulless harpy and, once again, a whore unfit for marriage. And, if she does manage to get married, the woman is immediately expected to quit her job and raise the brood spectacularly, and anything that goes wrong with the children is automatically assumed to be her fault

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**A/N**  
Thought? Comments? Confusion? I can't believe I forgot to put this down here when I first posted this chapter... Anywho, feel free to contribute! This chapter needs some serious expanding


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